Your Private Driver Price
From USD 540
9 days at USD 60 per day with a Private Car and driver, for up to 3 guests subject to luggage and vehicle suitability.
The transport allowance is 1,100 km pooled across this booking: 100 km per day plus the one-time 200 km long-tour allowance. The suggested route is checked against this allowance when we prepare your quotation.
This is a transport-only starting price. Hotels, entrance tickets, trains, safari jeeps, park fees, activities and traveller meals are not included unless your written quotation says so. Vehicle choice, additional distance, peak-season dates and guiding requests can change the final price.
Quick Tour Facts
- Duration
- 9 days / 8 suggested overnight stays
- Journey style
- Private vehicle and driver; route tailored to your party
- Pace
- A varied, moderately busy circuit with two nights each in Sigiriya and Ella. Several transfer days need an early start; the coast is a brief final stop.
- Suggested route
- Bandaranaike International Airport → Sigiriya / Dambulla → Kandy → Nuwara Eliya → Ella → Tissamaharama → Galle / Unawatuna → Bandaranaike International Airport
- Starting price
- USD 540 per Private Car, transport only
- Pooled distance allowance
- 1,100 km; extra distance confirmed in the quote
- Accommodation
- Choose your own hotels or request a complete holiday through Look Lanka Tours
9-Day Itinerary
Use this plan as a starting point. Your driver schedule, sightseeing stops and overnight bases can be adjusted around your flights, hotel bookings and preferred pace.
Airport to Sigiriya / Dambulla
Meet your driver after a morning arrival, or start from your existing hotel near Colombo or Negombo. Travel inland with time for a meal and comfort breaks.
Keep the afternoon easy after the flight and transfer. Settle into your chosen accommodation and leave Sigiriya's main climb for the following morning, when you have more energy.
Travel planning: Treat this as the main transfer after arrival. Agree the departure time around airport formalities, a meal and rest breaks before committing to sightseeing.
Suggested overnight: Sigiriya / Dambulla
Suggested Overnight Stays
- Sigiriya / Dambulla
- 2 nights
- Kandy
- 1 night
- Nuwara Eliya
- 1 night
- Ella
- 2 nights
- Tissamaharama
- 1 night
- Galle / Unawatuna
- 1 night
9-Day Route at a Glance
Your route, stop by stop
Hover or tap a map pin for destination details. Select a stop below to find it on the map.
Why Choose This Journey
- Two nights in the Cultural Triangle for Sigiriya and flexible local time.
- Dambulla and Kandy's temple district on the journey into the hills.
- A Nuwara Eliya overnight to divide the hill-country transfer.
- Two nights in Ella, including a full day for walking or rest.
- The option of a separately arranged safari from Tissamaharama.
- Galle Fort and one night by the southern coast before departure.
Flights, Seasons and Practical Planning
Arrival and departure
This sequence assumes a morning Day 1 arrival or a start from accommodation near Colombo or Negombo. Airport procedures and the inland drive take a substantial part of the day. A late arrival needs a revised first night or an extra arrival night, agreed before the remaining accommodation is booked.
A late-afternoon or evening flight is the easier fit for Day 9 from Galle or Unawatuna. Allow the road transfer, a traffic margin and the airline's check-in buffer separately. For an early departure, replace the final coastal overnight with an airport-area stay and revise Day 8 accordingly.
Season and route adjustments
Plan the south-coast stop around your dates. May to September often brings wetter conditions to the southwest and hills; October and November can be unsettled more widely. Check the forecast and sea locally. An east-coast alternative requires a different route and overnight plan.
- Keep the eight-night pattern in mind before booking rooms. Moving a hotel outside its proposed base can lengthen transfers and change the practical sightseeing window.
- Hill roads are winding and journeys take longer than a map's straight-line distance suggests. Build in stops and keep the main activity on transfer days selective.
- The possible train segment is optional and separately paid unless quoted. Tickets, service operation and the station transfers must be confirmed before treating it as booked.
- Safaris use separately arranged jeeps and park entry. Agree the duration, collection point and charges; access and wildlife sightings depend on conditions at the time.
- Sigiriya, Dambulla and Ella walks involve steps or uneven ground. Tell us about walking limits so the programme can be adjusted without filling every day.
- Accommodation, meals, attraction admission, guides and activities are outside the transport-only plan unless explicitly included in the written quotation for your trip.
- Ask for the planned route mileage, vehicle category and any extras in the transport quote. The pooled allowance does not determine how far your selected route actually travels.
- Pack for warm lowlands and cooler hill evenings. A light rain layer and footwear with a useful grip help with changes in weather between regions.
What Your Driver Arrangement Covers
- Private vehicle and English-speaking driver for the agreed itinerary
- Agreed pickup, drop-off and sightseeing transport
- Fuel, highway tolls and parking
- Driver accommodation
- The stated pooled distance allowance
The vehicle and luggage fit are confirmed before booking. A separately agreed chauffeur-guide service, another language or specialist site guide can be requested.
Costs to Plan Separately
- Your accommodation and meals
- Attraction tickets, national-park entry and safari jeeps
- Train tickets, boat trips and other activities
- Specialist guides and additional guiding services
- Additional mileage and any applicable peak-season supplement
- Driver meals unless included in your written quotation
Private Car: USD 0.50 per km; Private SUV: USD 0.55 per km; Family Van: USD 0.55 per km; Small Group Van: USD 0.65 per km; Group Coaches (16-passenger option): USD 0.70 per km.
Would 9, 10 or 11 Days Suit You Better?
Choose the nine-day plan for a purposeful circuit with eight suggested nights: two near Sigiriya, one in Kandy, one in Nuwara Eliya, two in Ella, one in Tissamaharama and one around Galle or Unawatuna. It starts with the inland transfer on arrival day, so a late flight may require an airport-area night and a revised route.
The ten-day plan makes different use of the extra time: it starts with a night in Negombo and ends with two nights around Galle, travelling directly from Ella to the coast. Its suggested route has no Tissamaharama overnight or Yala safari stop. Choose between them by the route and pace as well as the number of days.
The eleven-day plan keeps the nine-day circuit’s Tissamaharama stop and extends the Galle-area stay to three nights. It is the closer comparison if you want the same cultural and hill-country route with more coastal time. Any safari, rail journey or other activity still needs separate confirmation and charging unless your quote includes it.
10 days: arrival rest and coastal time
Review nine suggested nights, beginning in Negombo and continuing from Ella to Galle.
11 days: the circuit with a longer beach finish
Review ten suggested nights and three nights around Galle after the Tissamaharama stop.
Compare every suggested journey
Use the route directory to choose by duration, destinations and pace.
Make This Itinerary Your Own
Share the places you most want to see, your flight times, party size and any hotels already booked. We can shorten driving days, add slower stays, adapt walks for your group or change the beach region for your travel dates.
If you keep the driver during beach days, local outings and the next transfer can stay with the same person. Tell us how you would like to use those days so the quotation reflects the actual arrangement.
